Charles R. Spiller, Jr. 85 of Sandpoint passed away Monday, October 12, 2009 at Life Care of Sandpoint.
Charles “Chuck” Spiller was born October 21, 1923 in Los Angeles, Calif.; the son of Charles R. Spiller, Sr., and Regina Roberts Spiller. Chuck was raised and educated in West Los Angeles, Calif, graduating from Hamilton High School in 1941.
Immediately upon his graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Army, qualified for the Army Air Corp and served during World War II.
Upon being honorably discharged from the Air Corps he came home and held two jobs to support his family.
He soon attracted the attention of the prestigious insurance firm E. Brooks Randall & Son in Beverly Hills where he began his business career.
After five years he struck out on his own to form his own agency, which he eventually moved to Newport Beach, CA.
In the early 70's he began his second career as a real estate broker and land developer, which was the profession that he loved and in which he became very successful.
He and his son, Phil, first developed a 6 unit apartment complex in Costa Mesa, followed by a 40 unit apartment complex and a 30 unit complex in the same city. This was followed by 2 developments in the then relatively undeveloped Temecula area. He developed the luxury Galleria apartments in Costa Mesa in the early 80's.
It was in Newport Beach that he met Joyce Waltze, and after a whirlwind courtship they were married in Las Vegas in 1983. This marriage resulted in the uniting of two loving families.
The couple enjoyed 26 years together much of which was spent traveling in an RV. Chuck was adventurous and their travels took them the length and breadth of North America from the Mayan pyramids to the Arctic Circle. They discovered Sandpoint, Idaho in 1992 and built their dream house on Pine Street in 1993.
During the middle 1950’s he became involved with Little League baseball by supporting his sons’ involvement as players and eventually became manager of the team.
One of the members of that team went on to enjoy a successful career in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox.
He also served as president of the entire West Los Angeles Little League and was instrumental in getting a water line put under the 405 freeway(during its construction), which to this day serves the West Los Angeles Little League and Pony League fields from the Veterans Administration property at no cost to the league.
